Joke’s on You by Lani Lynn Vale Page 0,24

a small mouthpiece on it, and that was where you sucked.

Yes.

You used this device, kid’s nose to your mouth, and literally sucked the snot out.

It was vile.

And when you actually started getting phlegm and boogers out? It became even more disgusting.

Honestly, I was more than happy to send that disgusting thing home with Delanie when she’d come to pick up Asa three days later.

Sadly, I’d had to use it two more times. And each of those times I could remember quite vividly.

It was a nightmare.

One that I hoped that I never had to repeat.

Shuddering, I grabbed the bar of soap off the top rail of the shower and got to work scrubbing my body down.

Just as I was about to wash my feet, there was a soft, hesitant, “Booth?”

“Come in,” I called out over the shower.

I wasn’t worried about her seeing me.

Even if I was shy—which I wasn’t—I wanted this woman to see me.

Sadly, the shower’s opaqueness made it impossible.

Honestly, she could only see me from about chest height up.

“Hey,” I said as I saw her. She looked hesitant. “Come in. Pull up a seat.”

I gestured to the toilet, and she snickered.

Though, the moment she sat down, her eyes went distant and she stared at the wall blankly as the smile fell off of her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She scrunched up her nose. “Nothing.”

Yeah, that was a lie.

There was no way that there wasn’t anything wrong.

I’d heard what she was about to say in the car.

She was about to cancel on me.

I wasn’t stupid.

“What’s wrong?” I repeated, turning fully toward her as I started to shampoo my hair.

She sighed and scrubbed her hands down her face in a rough manner.

“I…” She blew out a breath. “Kerrie was there when I arrived last night.”

My brows didn’t rise.

I knew that Kerrie was there.

The officer that had responded to the call was one of my friends.

I’d called into dispatch to see who was working the call and had been informed that it was one of my buddies, Trane Jones.

After Trane had finished with the call, he’d called me and informed me of what he’d found, and who was there.

It hadn’t made me happy to hear that Kerrie was there when I wanted to be the one to assist her.

But the parenting gig wasn’t just a whenever I wanted to do it kind of job.

It was full-time, and I had to put my kid first no matter how frustrating life got.

I flicked off the shower once all the shampoo was out of my hair, then grabbed the towel that I’d left hanging over the top of the rail and wrapped it around my hips before stepping out.

The bathroom mat sank underneath my feet, but I didn’t pay it any attention at all as I looked at Dillan.

She looked… heartbroken.

And so freakin’ sad.

How had I not seen that before?

“Please tell me,” I said.

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes.

“I spoke with Kerrie,” she said softly. “I… it’s all my fault.”

Her shoulders drooped the moment that those words were out of her mouth.

I wanted to pick her up off of the toilet seat and yank her into my arms, but I wouldn’t get the answers that I needed like that.

I frowned. “What’s all your fault?”

She stood up and started to pace, her hands going to her hair as she roughly pulled at the ends.

“You. Delanie. Asa,” she answered quickly. “It’s all my fault.”

I stood up and caught her hand, leading her into the guest bedroom which was the farthest room away from where Asa was asleep on the couch.

“What are you talking about, Dillan?” I asked. “You’re not making any sense.”

She turned to me, her eyes now filled with tears.

“Kerrie,” she started rambling. “You remember Kerrie from high school? How he always used to be around? He was one of my father’s best friend’s son. He was around all the time. And I counted him as a friend.”

I nodded, remembering that.

I honestly hadn’t always felt that Kerrie was all that great of a guy, but he’d always been with Dillan and Delanie, and I knew that they were childhood friends. Not to mention any time I got even close to looking like I was going to approach Dillan, Kerrie would maneuver himself so that I couldn’t without going through him.

It was kind of awkward trying to get with a girl—i.e. Dillan—when Kerrie was always blocking my path.

“Yes, I remember,” I said, not pointing out that it would be kind of hard to forget